Palliative Care Resources
Resources to support your continued learning about hospice palliative care.
Advance Care Planning, Goals of Care and Health Care Consent
- ACP Conversation Guide: Clinician Primer
- ACP Conversation Guide: Clinician Guide
- ACP Conversation Guide: A Guide for You and Your Substitute Decision Maker
- Advance Care Planning in Ontario
- Advance Care Planning Conversation Starters
- Advance Care Planning Information for Clinicians
- Advance Care Planning Values Exercise
- Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE)
- Advance Care Planning Workbooks and Quick Guides
- Cancer Care Ontario ACP Quality Improvement Tool kit
- Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR): A Decision Aid for Patients and Their Families
- Community Legal Education Ontario – Power of Attorney
- Consent and Capacity Board
- First Nations Substitute Descision Maker Brochure (PDF)
- First Nation Advance Care Planning Brochure (PDF)
- Goals of Care Information for Clinicians
- Health Canada: What to do when facing a serious illness
- Informed Consent and Capacity Information for Clinicians
- Living My Culture
- National Institute for Care of the Elderly – Consent & Capacity Tool
- Navigating a Life-Changing Diagnosis
- Office of the Public Guardian & Trustee
- OPCN Approaches to Goals of Care Discussions
- OPCN FAQ Advance Care Planning, Goals of Care, and Treatment Decisions & Informed Consent
- OPCN Making Decisions About Your Care
- OPCN Person-Centred Decision Making
- Person-Centred Decision Making Learning Modules
- Person-Centred Conversations Resources for Clinicians
- Person-Centred Decision Making – Chronic Kidney Disease
- Power of Attorney Kit
- Resources to Support Indigenous & First Nations Peoples
- Substitute Decision Maker – Who is mine?
- Substitute Decision Maker (SDM) – I am a SDM, what do I need to know?
Key Reference Documents
Caregiver Resources
- A Caregiver’s Guide – A Handbook about End-of-Life Care
- Cancer Assistance Program Hamilton (loans equipment, transportation to clinic/appointments and emotional support)
- Caregiving Videos
- Caregiver Support Education
- Dementia: Assessing Pain in Your Family Member
- Dementia Journey – A Roadmap for Residents and their Families
- First Nations Caregiver Support Education
- Home Caregiver Support Program – St John Ambulance
- Seriously Ill Child, Pregnancy Loss or Infant Loss
- Share the Care – How to Organize a Group to Care for Someone Who is Seriously Ill
- Two-Spirit and LGBTQ+
- Waiting Room Revolution – Preparing for your illness journey
- Wellspring Cancer Support Programs
End of Life
- Conversations on Caring: Initiating a Dialogue with Family During Advanced Illness or Dying (Video)
- End-of-Life Care During the Last Days and Hours (from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario)
- DNRC Form – Example Only
- DNRC Form – How to Order
- Paediatric End of Life Care – NICE Guidelines
- Improving End-of-Life Care in First Nation Communities
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (English) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (Français/French) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (عربي/Arabic) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (中文/Chinese) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (فارسی/Farsi/Persian) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (Tagalog/Filipino) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (Italiano/Italian) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (Polski/Polish) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (Português/Portuguese) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ/Punjabi) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (Español/Spanish) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying in Long Term Care (اردو/Urdu) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (English) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (Français/French) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (عربي/Arabic) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (中文/Chinese) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (فارسی/Farsi/Persian) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (Tagalog/Filipino) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (Italiano/Italian) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (Polski/Polish) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (Português/Portuguese) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ/Punjabi) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (Español/Spanish) (PDF)
- When Your Loved One Is Dying At Home (اردو/Urdu) (PDF)
Pain and Symptom Management
Breathlessness
- Cancer Care Ontario Dyspnea Guideline and Algorithm
- COPD Recommendations from Canadian Thoracic Society
- Educational Support for Nurse Led Breathlessness Intervention Program
- Managing Your Breathing, Peel Regional Cancer Program
- Managing Shortness of Breath (videos) (videos)
- RNAO Dyspnea Best Practice Guideline
General Resources
- Palliative Performance Scale (PPS)
- Performance Improvement -International Society for Performance Improvement
- PSW Pocket Docket – Backrub
- PSW Pocket Docket – Flyers
- PSW Pocket Docket – Sleep Hygiene
- PSW Pocket Docket – Towel Bath
- Radiation Therapy – JBMH Palliative Pearls
- SBAR Palliative Reporting
- SBAR Tool (Fillable)
- SBAR Tool (PDF)
- Thrush – HPC Tip of the Month
Lymphedema
From CarePartners:
- Client Care Plan – Lower Extremity Lymphedema Management by Subcutaneous Drainage
- Data Capture Form – Lower Extremity Lymphedema Managment by Subcutaneous Drainage
- Evaluation – Lower Extremity Lymphedema Management by Subcutaneous Drainage
- Management of Lyphedema of Lower Extremities by Subcutaneous Drainage
- Policy and Procedure for Lower Extremity Lymphedema Management by Subcutaneous Drainage
Medication
- Drug Product Search, Health Canada
- Institute for Safe Medication Practices in Canada (ISMP)
- Medscape Drug Interaction Checker
- Palliative Medications – ODB and Limited Use (LU)/Palliative Care Facilitated Access (PCFA) Status
- Subcutaneous Indwelling Access Sample Protocol
Other Symptoms
- Dialysis: Screening, assessing and managing the symptoms of people receiving dialysis
- Cancer Care Ontario Symptom Management Tools – Anxiety, Appetite, Bowel, Delirium, Depression, Dyspnea, Fatigue, Nausea & Vomiting, Oral Care, Pain
- ESAS Patient Instructions
- ESAS r
Pain
- Assessment and Management of Pain Best Practice Guideline (RNAO)
- Assessment and Management of Pain in the Elderly – Learning Package Long Term Care
- Assessing Pain in Older Adults with Dementia, Alzheimer’s Association
- Cancer Breaththrough Pain and Rapid Onset Opioid – JBMH Palliative Pearl
- Cancer Care Ontario Symptom Assessment and Management Tools
- Dementia – Pain Assessment and Management
- Fentanyl Patches – ISMP Canada Safety Bulletin
- Fraser Health Symptom Assessment OPQRSTUV
- Guidelines for Developing a Pain Management Program
- Long Term Care Best Practices re Pain (RNAO)
- Opioid Myths and Misconceptions
- Pain Assessment for the Cognitively Impaired – A. Brignell
- Pain Assessment – Pediatric (7-12 years) from Hospital for Sick Children- Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale
- World Health Organization Analgesic Stepped Approach
Pain Assessment Tools for Cognitively Impaired
Palliative Sedation
Illness Specific
- ALS Guide for Primary Care Physicians
- Cancer Care British Columbia
- COPD Care in the Community Quality Standards
- COPD Guidelines
- Dementia End-of-Life Care
- Heart Failure Guide for Nurses
- Heart Failure Palliative and End-of-Life Care Needs
- Illness Trajectory Conversation Guides Booklet: A Communication Aid for HCP’s
- Illness Trajectory Pamphlets – SPA-LTC
- MS Palliative Care Continuum
- Parkinson Disease Clinical Guideline
- Parkinson Disease Palliative Care Needs
Grief and Bereavement Resources
- Acclaim Health Bereavement Support Services
- Bereaved Families of Ontario
- Centre for Loss & Life Transition (Denver)– Dr. Alan Wolfelt
- Grief (U.S. Site)
- Living My Culture
- My Grief
- Wellspring
Grieving Children
Palliative Approach to Care
Cancer Care Ontario – Collaborative Palliative Care Plans:
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
- Access to Palliative Care Articles from Palliative Care Matters (UK)
- Best Practice Guideline: A Palliative Approach to Care in the Last 12 Months of Life
- Canadian Virtual Hospice
- Early Identification: Gold Standards Framework for Palliative Care by National Health Service (UK)
- Early Identification & Prognostic Indicator Guide (MH)
- HQO Quality Standards for Palliative Care: Care for Adults with a Progressive, Life-Limiting Illness
- Living Out Loud – Teens Dealing with Advanced Illnesses
- Paediatric Advanced Care Team
- Paediatric End of Life Care – NICE Guidelines
- Palliative Care Concepts and Terms
- Pediatric Palliative Care Handbook
- World Health Organization – Definition of Palliative Care
Local Hospices
- Bethell Hospice
- Carpenter Hospice
- Dorothy Ley Hospice
- Ian Anderson House Hospice
- Hospice Dufferin
- Hospice Mississauga